Toughest Ticket in All of DC – 2017 ENERGY STAR Award Gala
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund
One of the toughest tickets to get in DC is for tonight’s 2017 ENERGY STAR® awards gala where 152 businesses and organizations from across the nation are being recognized at a sold-out event hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy (DOE). Unfortunately, the Trump administration wants to eliminate the program, which is one of the nation’s most successful public-private partnerships.
According to EPA estimates, the program has helped save consumers and businesses $430 billion on their energy bills and prevented 2.8 billion metric tons of climate change pollution. Those savings exceed all the carbon emissions associated with generating a year’s worth of electricity for the entire United States!
EnergyStar.gov
Tonight’s awardees—which range from manufacturers, retailers, home builders, utilities, office building owners to school districts—are being highlighted for their efforts to reduce the amount of energy consumed in U.S. buildings and factories.
ENERGY STAR Program at Risk
Despite its undisputed success and broad support from companies and organizations across the country, funding for the ENERGY STAR program was eliminated in the most recent Trump administration budget proposal. Just yesterday it was announced that more than 1,000 companies had signed a letter of support for the program, urging Congress to save the program and its budget.
How Does ENERGY STAR Work?
ENERGY STAR is a voluntary labeling program that helps consumers and businesses select a more energy efficient model—usually among the top 25 percent most efficient on the market. All the consumer needs to do is look for models that have the blue ENERGY STAR logo, which means the manufacturer has voluntarily applied to EPA for the privilege to use the label signifying the product meets specific energy-saving requirements. The program’s simplicity and the logo’s widespread awareness by consumers and businesses have led to its great success. In fact, eighty-five percent of US households have seen or heard of the ENERGY STAR label per a recent survey.
There are now 70 different product categories covered by the ENERGY STAR program ranging from refrigerators and air conditioners, TVs and computers, light bulbs, windows, to single family homes and office buildings.
What do School Districts, Defense Contractors, Home Builders, and Retailers All Have in Common?
The 2017 ENERGY STAR awardees come from an incredibly broad set of companies and organizations. All of them appreciate the massive energy savings opportunities available and have taken steps to harvest them, thereby reducing their energy bills and doing their part to help protect the environment. (When we use less electricity, it also reduces the need to burn fossil fuels to generate electricity to run our appliances and equipment – and the climate-warming pollution it brings.)
- Retailers – Big box retailers such as Home Depot, Sears, and Best Buy received special recognition for their efforts to promote and sell ENERGY STAR-qualified appliances and consumer electronics products. Another awardee was Nationwide Marketing Group, which represents more than 1,100 independent dealers across the country.
- Building Owners and Managers – Skyscrapers and office parks across the nation are becoming more energy efficient due to the ENERGY STAR software benchmarking tool and recognition program for the most efficient buildings. Vornado Realty Trust, one of the nation’s largest owner and managers of commercial real estate, has 36 properties that earned ENERGY STAR certification.
- Home Builders – Leading home builders are building more efficient homes and are gaining sales due to their ENERGY STAR qualification. One of this year’s awardees is KB Homes, which has built more than 100,000 ENERGY STAR certified homes in 34 different markets since joining the program. These more efficient houses saved homeowners $30 million on their energy bills in 2016.
- Manufacturers – A wide range of manufacturers make products that qualify for ENERGY STAR. 2017 awardees for sustained excellence include household names such as Whirlpool for its appliances, and ATT and its subsidiary DirectTV for producing some of the most energy-efficient TV set top boxes on the market. Lesser known companies include the food service company Welbilt, which manufactures highly efficient electric fryers and Eaton, which produces energy- saving lighting fixtures and controls.
- Defense Contractors – Leading companies such as Raytheon and Boeing reduced the annual energy use of their operations in 2016 by 3% and 2% respectively, cutting millions of dollars off their energy bills.
Clearly this program is well-regarded and makes a significant difference both on customer bills and for the environment due to avoided electricity generation. It’s mystifying why the Trump administration wants to kill a successful and cost-effective program like this. Let’s hope clearer heads prevail in Congress and all of us can come back this time next year to celebrate the next round of award winners and the billions of dollars of additional energy savings U.S. consumers and businesses received thanks to ENERGY STAR.
Read the full article at: https://www.nrdc.org/experts/noah-horowitz/toughest-ticket-all-dc-2017-energy-star-award-gala
